25. MARRIAGE

25. Marriage ~ 68 ~ When a man and a woman enter into the marital bond, they bring into existence a social unit called the family. Like any other social unit, this requires an organizer or supervisor. For this special role, Islam has chosen man. Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. (Qur’an, 4:39). Making man the maintainer in no way indicates that to God man is superior to woman. This choice is based on man’s capacities for management rather than on his superiority. In a democratic system, everyone has been granted an equal status yet when a government is formed, one particular individual is entrusted with supreme political power. This does not mean that this possessor of power is superior to other citizens. In a democratic system, the president or the prime minister has one vote like all the other citizens. Even then in the interest of good management, authority is entrusted to a single individual.